Improvement in coal-hods



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHL B. DRISCOLE, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVEMENT lN COAL-HODS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 163,752, dated May 25, 1875; application filed April 13, 1875.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JOHN B. DRISCOLE, of New York city, in the county of New York, in the State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Goal-Bods; and I do herebyv declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

It is well known that the coal-hod of the old fashion and most usual form and construction,

though perfectly efficient and convenient for.

supplying coal to grates and to the fire-chambers of such stoves as have large doors or openings for the ingress of the coal, is very undesirable, inefficient, and awkward for use as a feeder to supply coal to such stoves or heaters (as, for instance, a Baltimore heater) as have a small aperture through which the coal has to be fed or supplied to the coalchamber; and the palpable objections to the usual form and construction of hod have led to some changes in and improvements thereon, having for their objects to provide for use a hod adapted to be employed with greater convenience in connection with such stoves or heaters as require the coal to be fed in through a comparatively small opening. None of the suggested im provements, how ever, with which I am familiar have led to the manufacture or production of a coal-hod perfectly adapted to the purposes of afeeder to the class of heaters to which I have alluded.

To provide for use such a feeder or hod, and at the same time have its construction such as to involve, to the greatest practical extent, simplicity and economy of manufacture, durability, strength, and facility in filling, handling, and discharging, are the objects of my present invention; and to these ends and objects my invention consists in the several features of construction hereinafter more fully described and referred to in the claims of this specification.

To enable those skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to more fully explain the construction and operation of my improved coal-hod, referring by letters to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation, Fig. 2 a top view, and Fig. 3 a vertical section at the line .nearly vertical flanges, G G, as shown.

00 00, Fig. 1, of a hod embodying my invention. Fig. 4 is a partial side view, and Fig. 5 a longitudinal section, showing a modification of construction hereinafter described.

In the several figures of the drawing, A represents the body, B the base or closed end, and O the open end or discharge-orifice, of the hod. D is the bail or handle by which the hod is lifted E, the auxiliary handle for tipping the hod to discharge its contents, and F the legs or feet, which assist in supporting the hod when set down in its normal position. The body A of the hod is composed of a single piece of sheet-iron, bent or formed into the (nearly) frustum shape illustrated, with its 0pposite top edges formed intoflaring lips, or The base or end piece B, which is circular in contour, has its circumference securely seamed to the larger end of the cone-like body-piece A, and has applied to it the auxiliary handle E, as illustrated. H is a curved band-piece or strap, which is also at one edge seamed or otherwise secured to the circumference of basepiece B, and which has its two ends secured to the upper opposite portions of the body A. The lips G G extend highest or farthest up at points near the larger end of the hod, and are from these points tapered off abruptly toward the base of the bed, and gradually toward the open end 0. The upper edges of the lips Gr may be wired, as illustrated, to give them strength and rigidity, and the edge of the body A at its open end 0 may be similarly wired for the same purposes. I is a connecting strap or piece, which is fastened at its opposite ends to the edges of body A, as shown, and which serves to connect andhold together these upper edges of the body A, and complete the annulus or ring which forms the dischargeorifice O of the hod. The supporting-legs F of the hod are made of one piece of hoop-iron, so bent or shaped and constructed as to not only constitute both of said (nearly vertical) legs, but also form the cars 76 k, to which the bail D is pivoted, and an arch-like brace at 1, extending from the lower extremity of one leg to that of the other, and having its. crown brace and support the lower portion. of the body A, to which it may be secured by a rivet or rivets.

The base B may be bent over or doubleseamed on its edge at the lowest point in its circumference, to present a flat spot for the resting-point of the hod. and, if deemed expedient, this point of the hod (where it comes in contact with the floor) may be protected against wear by a supplemental piece of sheet metal properly secured in place.

The open end 0 of the hod, it will be seen, is so cut or formed as to lay in a plane which is at about forty to forty-five degrees to the bottom or lowest line of the body A. The exact angle is, of course, not material, it only being necessary and proper to have the end U so formed that when the hod is lifted into a position which will induce to the discharge of its contents by gravitation, said open end will have its edge in about a vertical plane or position.

The hod is so balanced on its pivotal connections to the bail D that, when lifted and carried by said bail, it will maintain about the same position that it occupies (relatively to a horizontal plane) when setting on the floor, which position is such that the contents will be properly retained.

It will be understood that great economy of manufacture is embraced in the feature of construction or idea of making the leg and the ear towhich the bail is pivoted in one piece, riveted to the side of the body A, as shown, and thatby the further formation of both legs and the brace l of one piece an economic means is provided for both giving strength and rigidity to the legs and support to the body of the hod.

By making the body A with the lips G G, a double purpose and advantage is gainedviz., the said vertical lips act as flanges or ribs, to give a degree of rigidity and strength to the upper open portion of the body A, which it would not, without them, possess, and the said lip Gr also forms a sort of chute or hopper-like top opening, which renders the filling of the hod more convenient.

The great advantages in structure of a hod, made as shown and described, with a body-piece, A, bent round into shape, and held in place at one end by the basepiece B, and at the other by a suitable coupling strap or band, are economy of stock, combined with strength and lightness, and the capacity of variation in size in the manufacture by simply slightly distending or contracting a given size body-piece or pattern, to adapt it to difl'erent sizes of base B and discharge-orifice 0.

By taking the same parts, and in putting together, distending, or contracting even the open end 0 only, I can produce a hod considerably larger or smaller in its cubical contents, and in using the same size body with a different size base, B, (to make hods of different capacities,) considerable variation in size may be effected with only a slight contraction or enlargement of the top opening or mouth of the hod.

In lieu of uniting the opposite edges of the body A by a connecting-strap at the open end 0, as already described, a band of hoopiron, m, may be applied, as seen in Figs. at and 5, which will also serve, instead of wiring, to stiffen the edge of the discharge-orifice of the hod.

The shapes and proportions of the several parts may, of course, be varied more or less in the manufacture of my improved hod Without departing from my invention in the several features of construction described; or less than all the described novel features may be embodied in a hod with advantage without using the whole of my invention.

In the use of my improved hod, it will be found that the filling can be most conveniently effected, that the hod will balance and carry nicely, and that by applying the open end to the small feed-opening or door of a stove or heater, and tipping the hod, (by taking hold of the auxiliary handle 15,) the coal can be perfectly fed or discharged into the fire-chamber without making any dirt or causing any trouble.

While the article may be ornamented to any desired extent, it is of such a character that it can be made and sold very cheap, and will, at the same time, embody great utility and durability.

Having fully described my improved hod, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A coal-hod the body A of which is composed of one piece bent partially round into a frustuminal shape, and held in shape by a base, B, secured to it at one end, and some suitable means of connection at the other end, substantially as set forth.

2. In combination with the body A, composed of one piece bent partially round, as described, the lips or flanges G G, the whole constructed to operate substantially as and for the purposes described.

3. In combination with the body A, the legs F F, ears k k, and arched brace I, made all in one piece, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this 7th day of April, 1875.

JOHN B. DRISUOLE. [L. s]

In presence of A. ASGHER, JACOB FELBEL. 

